Author: Elissa Bjeletich

Elissa Bjeletich hosts three popular Ancient Faith Radio podcasts: Raising Saints, Everyday Orthodox, and together with Kristina Wenger, Tending the Garden of Our Hearts. She is the co-author of Blueprints for the Little Church: Creating an Orthodox Home and author of Welcoming the Christ Child: Family Readings for the Nativity Lent, and In God’s Hands: A Mother’s Journey through Her Infant’s Critical Illness. She serves as the Sunday school director at Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church. Elissa lives near Austin, Texas, with her husband, Marko, and their five daughters. You'll find more information on her website: elissabjeletich.com

Originally posted on December 11, 2014, and re-posted today as we live out the Nativity Fast once more… I just returned from Holy Trinity Cathedral in Portland, where I spoke with some lovely parents about how we live the Nativity Fast, how we help our children prepare their hearts for Christmas. Think of the story of His birth: When Herod called for the census, Joseph and Mary had no choice but to head for…

As most of you know, I have been working on a live call-in Ancient Faith Radio show called Everyday Orthodox. On the first and third Thursday of every month, we’ll talk with another everyday Orthodox person — we’ll hear their story, and get to know one another better! This week, my friend Katrina Bitar will join me. She didn’t think about it a lot when she was younger, but as she grows older…

I was just remembering watching the little boys in our church’s preschool program play priest — they were baptizing a stuffed animal, I think, while solemnly censing the room with their toy censer — and marvelling at how beautiful it is to see kids who just marinate in the faith. Church isn’t just a place they go sometimes, but a part of their lives, and a part of their play. The imagination…

I recently received a great question in the Raising Saints inbox, and thought it might be nice to share the answer here! If you ever have a question you’d like to see on the blog or podcast, click on the email icon in the upper right to email me, and if I can think of an answer to help, I’ll be glad to do so! Eric emailed me, asking: Hi, Elissa –…

Sasha and the Dragon is one of Ancient Faith Publishing’s very beautiful children’s books. Laura E. Wolfe based the story on one of my favorite anecdotes from Fr. Stephen Freeman. When his son was four years old, “He had a small statue of St. Michael the Archangel beside his bed on his nightstand. He liked it so we bought it for him. It was a very manly Michael, with a great and…

I came a little bit sideways into the Orthodox Church. I was very sure about marrying the Serbian Orthodox man I’d fallen in love with, but I was struggling about how to wrap my head around becoming Orthodox myself and raising an Orthodox family with him. I was raised outside the Church, out in the wilderness. Literally. We lived way out in the country, and we had no parish, no denomination even.…